Stars and Boulevards
by shortcrust pastry
Summary: Whether or not a person can't be helped depends on the helper. "Saving me is just a promise you don't intend to keep." — SasukeHinata
1. Waiting

**A/N: ** My PC and I suffered another breakdown. But this time, it's different. I got myself a Mac for Christmas. So it won't happen again. Sorry, _Hinata6 _and _Echo Uchiha _for not being able to return your messages; I will review your story though, _Hinata6_, and respond there. I can no longer access certain parts of my account - for some stupid reason I've constantly been pestering the Admins about ... - and I can only publish new stories and upload documents through my Gmail account with Google Docs and other attributes. So I apologize for my lack of activity!

This entire fic - planned for approximately 25-30 chapters, is dedicated to _fairheartstrife_, who was kind enough to help my friend Ross in his time of need. Hope she likes it ...

**. . . . .**

"**STARS AND BOULEVARDS"  
**_A SasuHina story  
_FRIGHTYMARE

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto  
**Song Inspirations: **Good To You – Marianas Trench feat. Kate Voegele  
Haunted – Taylor Swift  
Stars and Boulevards - Augustana

**. . . . .**

_Waiting_

In brass ripples of liquid gold, the rising sun crawled apprehensively above the edge of the frosty horizon, trailing the thin train of its glowing gown over the snow-blanketed evergreens of Konohagakure no Sato. Fuchsia flares exploded across the bronze sky, painting the world in a series of fireworks and blazing glory. Schoolgirl glitter and fairy-tale sparkles shone dimly on the surface of the icy sidewalks and snowy meadows.

Hyuuga Hinata lifted a hand to her eyes, shielding the lavender-white treasures of her clan from the blinding light of the sunrise. She voluntarily closed her eyes the second the sky erupted ablaze, embers and crimsons skyrocketing across the village in a welcome to the morning.

For the sun to shine so brightly even in the coldest of winters was truly a miracle. It vaguely reminded Hinata of a certain blond boy by the name of Uzumaki Naruto, her sole inspiration for everything she'd ever conspired and acquired. She owed him _so _much, and yet, she wished it were the other way around.

The mere thought of Naruto sent painful, prickling sensations to her heart. She could not pretend she didn't know why: she loved someone who could never reciprocate her feelings, for his heart already belonged to another. Sighing, Hinata turned her back completely on the warm sky and began her tread through the snowy sidewalk.

Her hands were shoved deep into the pockets of her coat, a black knitted scarf ravelled loosely twice around her neck. The biting chill drew the colour from her cheeks and numbed her unprotected nose until it was a faint red colour reminiscent of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.

She glanced down the road ahead of her; the streets of Konoha were already bustling with all the enthusiastic activity of the usual charismatic villagers. Hinata regarded the spectacle with fond eyes. What would it be like, she couldn't help but wonder, when the fallout struck? Things would never be the same, but that would never change. Things couldn't stay the same for long, no matter _what_.

In this case, _what _happened to be an impending war that only few knew of. The possibility that any of the other ninja villages would declare war on Konohagakure for taking in and recuperating a missing-nin – Uchiha Sasuke – was high, and the chances only climbed with each passing day. The only assurance Konoha had in the war was its enormously renowned military capability and its dependable alliance with Sunagakure, which had held fast and strong to this day.

Nineteen years old, Sabaku no Gaara continued to retain the all-time record of youngest shinobi to have risen to Kage. Hinata pursed her lips absent-mindedly, mentally reminding herself to ask after Gaara the next time she spoke with Naruto or perhaps Shikamaru and Temari. Being shy, introverted and of noble heritage, Hinata received less time to spend with her friends and acquaintances than any normal girl of eighteen.

She was startled from her thoughts when a hand tapped her on the shoulder. "Miss?"

Whirling around, Hinata came face-to-face with Hatake Kakashi. "K-Kakashi-sensei!"

A lone black eye scrutinized her sharply, scrunching in a warm smile as he nodded his head and extended a hand. "You dropped this," he told her simply, referring to the proffered mitten in his palm below. "About a block earlier, too."

"Oh," Hinata said dumbly, retrieving the mitten from Kakashi's open hand and stuffing it vehemently into her coat. "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei. I-I didn't realize."

"Clearly." Kakashi surprised Hinata by falling into her step, his fists in the pockets of his pants as he loped along easily at her side. "Been thinking hard about something, Hinata?"

She did not miss the glance he sent her way from the corner of his lone eye. She smiled wryly and inclined her head in a slow, uncertain nod. She wasn't sure if he was asking for an elaborate summary of her thoughts or whether he was merely striking up a conversation to pass the time, and so she failed to voice an answer.

"Could it be – about Naruto?" Kakashi demanded, striding one step ahead and twisting back around to sweep down and face her with a comically ominous expression. "Or perhaps about Christmas – gifts for Naruto? Maybe about fighting the war – with Naruto?"

A blush crept up Hinata's neck; she was ultimately indebted to scarves forever. Grateful to the gods that Kakashi was seemingly oblivious to her embarrassment, she exclaimed, "N-No! I wasn't thinking about Naruto … not everything I think has to b-be about Naruto-kun-!"

Kakashi chortled at her evident discomfit and his mask stretched into a languid, pleasant smile. "Alright. I believe you. Then what were you thinking about, Hinata? Do tell."

She frowned at his inconspicuous mockery. Determined to prove him wrong, she lied, "I was thinking about where I was headed. W-What else?"

"But of course," Kakashi drawled, his words strained and shaky from withholding another chuckle. "What _else_?" When his snarky remark was met with childishly adamant silence, he sighed melodramatically and asked, "Where _are _you headed, Hinata?"

Hinata's frown straightened into a taut, grim line. Face drawn with fresh seriousness, she said, "To the Hokage's tower. I r-received a summons from Tsunade-sama e-earlier this morning."

"Ah," Kakashi said gravely, tilting his head back in a gesture of realization and comprehension. "I see, I see. I actually have an idea what all that might be about. You see, the war is coming."

Hinata nodded.

Kakashi cocked his head to the side with a slight shake. "I don't think you quite understand. I mean, it's _definitely _coming. We received word from Sunagakure no Sato shortly after midnight."

Hinata's head snapped up faster than she thought possible, sending a bolt of sudden pain coursing down her neck. She instantly regretted the swift movement, but she ignored it, gasping, "S-So this is really – really the …"

"The Fourth Shinobi World War," Kakashi said bleakly. "I was twelve when the Third Shinobi World War struck. My teammate – Uchiha Obito – was one of many who were killed. He gave me my Sharingan, you know."

"I-I'm sorry," Hinata whispered. "I never knew."

"No one really does," Kakashi said, lazily cheerful. "But then again, no one thinks to ask."

Hinata, for lack of a response to his statement, replied in reference to an earlier one. "You s-said, Kakashi-sensei, that you might know why Tsunade-sama w-wanted to see me?"

Kakashi shrugged lightly. "Ah, actually, all I know is that she's been summoning Chunins and Jounins from all over the village since news of the war came to Konoha. She's had everyone running about on odd jobs and missions; I've been appointed to lead Naruto, Sakura and Sai down to patrol the plain by Iwagakure for hostages or bandits."

"Sai," Hinata repeated with a slight inquiry in her tone. "S-Sai-san? What about Uchiha-san?"

"Uchiha-san? You mean Sasuke, don't you?" Kakashi smirked. "He's only been around a half a week. You don't really expect Tsunade-sama to allow him to fight in the war, do you?"

As Hinata deliberated in silence, Kakashi clicked his tongue and glanced behind his shoulder at the enormous, glimmering building of the Konoha Hospital.

"Besides," the Jounin added with a half-lidded eyes, "he's still unfit to fight, and will be for a while, I'm sure. Especially in his state, I'm not so positive he'll be recovering soon."

Hinata didn't press for information: it was of no use or to no purpose, for she had never been one to pick up gossip or genuinely care about the Uchiha. She knew only what Naruto and Sakura had been able to reveal – that Sasuke had been found by Genma, Raido and Aoba a few five or six kilometres from the village gates. The Tokubetsu Jounin squad had proceeded to carry him – kindly disregarding his traitor status – back to Konoha and request Tsunade for immediate medical attention.

Hinata recalled experiencing bafflement and mild suspicion upon initially hearing the details. She hadn't failed to notice the doubt reflecting in Naruto's eyes, either. Hesitant and in the dark of Uchiha Sasuke's true feelings, she knew that Naruto was also wondering whether Sasuke was merely planning to stay for the duration of his recovery, before leaving again. As far as she knew, he had been discovered in an absolutely shattered state, barely able to even hold himself upright.

So she only nodded absent-mindedly in response to Kakashi as the enormous shadow of the Hokage's tower loomed over them, swallowing the pair as they approached the winding staircase. As she mounted the first step, Hinata paused, realizing Kakashi was not following her.

"A-Aren't you going in?" she asked.

"No, that was never my intention," Kakashi said lethargically. "I merely intended to escort a pretty young lady halfway across the village in case she encountered any dangers."

Hinata giggled and flushed faintly. "Thank you v-very m-much, Kakashi-sensei. If it weren't for you, I don't know how I would have ever m-made it."

With a bow, salute and a flourish, Kakashi vanished in a cloud of smoke, leaving Hinata alone on the bottom step. As she made her way slowly up the staircase, she contemplated what Kakashi had said. Kakashi's teammate had been killed during the previous Shinobi World War. It made her slightly uneasy to think that Naruto would be with Kakashi for the Fourth Shinobi World War, which was rumoured to be even more riotous and dangerously epic than ever before.

Would Naruto befall an untimely death out by Iwagakure, while she was taking on 'odd jobs and missions' for Tsunade? It seemed as though she would have to wait for her answers. What would she _do _without Naruto around, whether he was alive out there or not? He still wasn't _here_.

And so it was that Hinata was in a somewhat desolate mood as she knocked on Tsunade's office door.

"Wait one second." The lofty voice of Tsunade froze Hinata in her position, feet rooted to the space inches away from the closed door. Tsunade held an immense power over her subordinates, but especially over Hinata. She had always wished she could possess the courage to ask Tsunade to personally train her the way Ino and Sakura had had the courage to, but she had never been quite able to.

The door swung open with a creak as a short, dark-haired woman clad in black welcomed Hinata into the room with a sweeping gesture of the arm. Hinata forced a smile for Shizune, the Fifth Hokage's assistant, as she passed and faced Tsunade behind her desk.

The busty blonde turned amber-honey eyes on Hinata fondly, inclining her head in a curt greeting. "Thanks for coming, Hinata."

"W-What is it you called me for, Tsunade-s-sama?" Hinata asked, her voice trembling slightly more than usual.

"One moment, Hinata," Shizune interrupted. "We're just waiting on someone else."

With a puzzled nod, Hinata turned to stare curiously at the door, slightly ajar, waiting for someone – anyone – to walk through it at any second. However, she was kept in suspense for much longer than she would have liked – five entire, unendurable minutes, to be precise.

Another thing to wait for – how Hinata hated to have to wait.

The fifth minute was almost past. Hinata was mentally counting the seconds in her mind, for lack of anything better to do in the time. Tsunade busied herself with taking shots from the cap of a sake bottle, whilst Shizune's gaze darted anxiously from her Hokage to the door as she tapped impatient fingers on the arm of her chair.

As much as Hinata disliked waiting, she instantly regretted her unspoken wish for the dreadful silence to end. It all happened in a matter of seconds: the door was flung violently back, so violently in fact, that it practically strained its hinges. Shizune leapt a questionable foot in the air off of her seat and Tsunade's head snapped irately up from her paperwork.

Hinata, completely horrified by the display of force preceding the visitor's entrance, watched in sheer bewilderment as a figure bounded through the open doorway with admirable enthusiasm. Hinata was able to recognize the familiar face immediately. With hair darker and even more violet than her own, dull brown eyes and an overbearing coat the shade of peanut-beige, the second proctor of her first trial at the Chunin Exams was still as unmistakeably similar to the Mitarashi Anko that Hinata remembered.

"You're late again, Anko," Tsunade sighed, ignoring Shizune's deep breaths as the petite assistant attempted to desperately compose her panicked heart. "I'm beginning to think you're taking after Kakashi's ways."

"Shizune-san, Tsunade-sama, Hinata-chan," Anko said, smiling cheerfully as she addressed each female occupant of the room in turn. "Sorry, Hokage-sama. I was delayed. Maito Gai dumped Rock Lee on us down at the hospital just as I was heading out. I couldn't refuse."

"Lee?" Tsunade, Shizune and Hinata repeated in unison, glancing up in mild surprise. All were concerned for the lovably hyperactive, determined and motivational teenager. Tsunade and Shizune, having dealt with his surgery as of when he was a mere thirteen-year-old, knew how fragile certain fragments of his resolve could be when faced with injury.

Anko pulled a serious, grim face as she nodded, her pale eyes sympathetic. "Aye. Lee was drunk. He must have hurt himself, I'm supposing."

"Lee was intoxicated into inflicting bodily harm upon himself?" Shizune asked, her eyes wavering with worry. "That sounds very unlike him. Are you sure, Anko?"

With another bob of her head, Anko's eyebrows drew into a slight, unhappy scowl. "This isn't the first time it's happened either, Shizune. Gai came to request rehabilitation for Lee. I don't think the hospital accepted the proposition, but Gai wouldn't have even considered it if he hadn't thought it would be best for Lee."

"I agree," Tsunade remarked gravely, her face drawn and pale. "Whatever in the world would possess Rock Lee to lose such control?"

Hinata blanched before Anko answered, already knowing the reason.

"Tenten's left him for Neji once again," Anko sighed.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Honestly, this back-and-forth cycle that Maito Gai's team circulates in must drive him crazy. I mean, Tenten is the one in the middle, so obviously she's feeling self-revolved around whatever she does. And Neji's always been predisposed with his own personal goals and problems that he's never seemed to give it much of his attention. But Lee's always been affected, one way or the other, and only Gai can see it."

"Poor Lee," Shizune murmured, casting her eyes down to her feet. "Do you think he'll be alright, Anko?"

With a small smile in Shizune's direction, Anko said, "I'm sure of it. Things have a way of working themselves out, Shizune. I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were you. Now, let's leave Maito Gai's team in their own situations and deal with the one I'm here for."

"That," Tsunade smirked, "is possibly the wisest comment I've heard, Anko. Hinata, come over here. Stand beside Anko."

Hinata obeyed, anticipation and slight wariness etched into her expression as she took her place by Anko's side directly in front of Tsunade's desk.

"Hinata, Anko – the war has been declared. We're officially a village of defence as of now. Genma has reported early movement from Iwagakure and a ship that left the Mizukage's harbour at three in the morning."

Neither Hinata nor Anko expressed any surprise. Both had already been told the news: although the concept of actually being caught up in war at the young age of nineteen still unnerved Hinata slightly. She couldn't help but feel quite horrified that Kakashi's teammate had been a victim of war at thirteen.

"Hinata, I would have liked to have you fight for the village, but I've also been presented with an alternative for your uses. Anko has a proposition for you, since everyone in this room is quite aware of your heart condition."

Precisely a year ago, Hinata had returned from her first S-class mission with a severely impacted heart. Kiba and Akamaru had been forced to stop in at three consecutive villages on the homebound trip to attend to the needs of her failing heart. When they'd arrived home, Tsunade had been able to acutely mend the damage, though Hinata's cardio activity could never be the same.

With a swallow and a concise nod, Hinata waited to hear the proposal with trembling hands. She intertwined her fingers together, forming a conjoined fist that sent unusually cold, prickling sensations coursing up her arms.

How she absolutely abhorred waiting. The pause in which it took for Tsunade to leaf through files and smoothly withdraw a full, typed report seemed to last for more than what happened to be a few mere seconds.

"How would you," Tsunade said slowly, her voice as thick and prickly sweet as sugary honey on sour candy, "like to be a volunteer at the Konoha Hospital for the duration of the war? We'll need extra hands on duty as more and more shinobi are dispatched for this war, and aside from the clear Byakugan, you possess excellent chakra control, extensive knowledge of the circulatory and tenketsu system as well as the basics of medicine and herbs."

Her amber brown eyes, as warm as they were hard, quickly conveyed to Hinata that in reality, she _had _no choice. Perhaps the choice would present itself later.

And, unable to summon the courage to speak her wish, Hinata attempted to convey a response with her own imploring eyes, trying to persuade the Hokage to allow her to fight, for she believed she could, and she was willing to die for her village. If anything had brought her to where she was today, it was Naruto's revelations on never running away, and never giving up.

Tsunade, correctly reading her pleads, shook her head forlornly. "I'm very sorry, Hinata, but I'm afraid I don't trust myself enough to let you fight. I really don't want to lose you. You're a valuable kunoichi and you have potential for a future. Don't ask me to let you throw it all away on a war that might not even last a third of a decade."

With a shaky sigh, Hinata's fingers slipped out of each other and fell miserably to her sides in the realization that she was out of options. She was truly thankful to Tsunade for looking out for her, for caring; not many Kages, she knew, would give a damn about their ninjas' futures and potential. For they were soldiers of fortune, and that should have been it, right?

"I-I understand, Tsunade-sama. I'm sorry."

Tsunade licked her lips and smiled. "Don't be. I admire your resolve, Hinata. But I honestly do believe you'll be a fantastic contribution to the Hospital. Do consider it, won't you?"

_Here _it was. _This _was the choice.

And as much as Hinata knew it was not what she wanted, she would rather be of some use to the war than of none at all. And so she made the decision, "I'll do it."

Anko grinned and clapped Hinata fiercely on the back. "Great! Thanks, Hinata! I know you really don't want to, but it means a lot that you will!"

"It's really n-no problem at all, Anko-sempai. When do I start?"

"Well, how about right now?" Shizune suggested. "After all, you did mention Rock Lee's in a tough spot, didn't you?" It was clear that the short, dark-haired woman still carried the earlier concern for Lee on her mind.

"I did, but he's being taken care of by Ugai," Anko explained. "You're welcome to visit his room anytime, Hinata … The two of you are friends, right?"

Hinata nodded without hesitation. She nursed a soft spot for Rock Lee; he had always been a character she admired nearly as much as Naruto and pitied almost as much, too. Tenten and Neji were always hurting him, never quite aware and never to be reasoned with. "I-I'd like to see him very much," she said truthfully.

"Great; then we'll be on our way. We'll find a job or two for you while we're down there. I'm sure there's something we can fill your time with before the fractured and bleeding victims of war come pouring in."

Leaving Hinata and Shizune with dreadfully intense images lingering in their usually uncorrupted minds, Anko waved to the Hokage and bid a salute before grabbing Hinata's elbow and leading her unintentionally roughly down the narrow corridor.

"You'll love it at the hospital, Hinata," Anko assured her. "The staff members are all terrific. Some of the patients are moody bastards, but they do give you something good to yap off about on coffee breaks. Just ignore those sorts of patients."

Hinata replied only with a slightly bemused, uncertain nod.

"I'll give you some time, then, to grab some of your things."

Her head jolted up, and once more the joints in her neck cringed. "M-My things?"

"Yeah. You'll be staying at the Hospital. You already live so far away, and the shifts that run are twenty-four to forty-eight hours long, varying between nights, evenings and days. I seriously don't think you want to be scurrying around the village at three a.m."

With little mental debate needed for her decision, Hinata nodded again, "I'll run home and get my s-stuff and … meet you at the h-hospital?"

"That'll be fine." Anko paused as soon as the pair stood in the centre of the village. "Well, run along then. I'll be waiting for you in the hospital lobby, alright?"

Before Hinata had taken two steps away from Anko, the woman spoke up again.

"Oh, and Hinata?" Anko shot her a thumbs-up, accompanied with an impish grin. "We'll probably rope in more volunteers, too. But as for now, you're our first recruit. Most of the other villages will be off fighting in the war, so for now, just do the best you can, alright?"

Somehow, Anko's encouraging words did not breach Hinata's frown. In fact, all she had managed to accomplish with two enthused sentences was remind Hinata that Naruto was off, away from her, without her, fighting in the war.

Just waiting: waiting for word on the lives of those she was being forced to depend upon now, waiting for the return of those she loved, possibly to die at any given moment, with the slightest stroke of misfortune, with the most blunt of accidents.

And there was nothing she could do about it.

**. . . . .**

Hiashi had not been pleased to hear of Hinata's volunteer work, but he, too, knew it was best for his daughter not to take part in the physicality and dangers of a world war. Hanabi had been kind enough to lend a hand in the packing of a bag, and Hinata had even spotted Neji as she crossed the courtyard of the compound on her way out, he being seemingly oblivious to Rock Lee's condition, and she did not mention it.

Hinata had brought only the bare necessities – toiletries, hair accessories, clothing and essential undergarments, a few of her favourite novels to pass the time and a fat wallet brimming with her father's generosity – at least a year's worth of absolute spending money, for simple indulgences and impulse-shopping. Although the amount and thought was completely extravagant, Hinata could not help but feel selfishly pleased with the attention her father now gave her.

She kept gentle fingers resting tentatively on the strap of her black bag drooping off of her shoulder, as she leaned against the glass door of the Konoha Hospital's main entrance, pushing it open. The indoor heat blew into Hinata's face with relaxing warmth. Cheeks painted rosy, she took small, ginger strides as she scanned the lobby for her supervisor.

Anko did not appear for another four to five minutes, though Hinata had no idea – and no interest – in who was to blame, for she might or might not have been early. She wouldn't have known either way; she wasn't one to constantly check the time. It made her feel as though her life was slipping by, in her own twisted, anxious reasoning.

"Sorry I'm late," Anko said airily. "I've just been to see Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and Sai off at the village gates. They left with all of the other platoons Tsunade-sama dispatched for guerrilla warfare, too. It was quite a sight."

Not for the first time, Hinata took note of the dip and rise of Anko's emotion in her own mention of Kakashi's name: the fluctuation of tone and suppressed significance might have been a figment of Hinata's imagination, but whether it was or whether it wasn't, it remained as none of her business.

"U-Um … is there someplace I could put my things?" Hinata inquired, indicating her black bag.

Anko gave a start, grinning meekly as she admitted, "I completely forgot. Follow me and I'll take you up to the fourth floor. The fourth floor and up is mostly where our vacant rooms are. So far, only a few rooms on the fourth floor are occupied – and only by our most recent of patients, and none on the fifth or sixth. But I'm sure they'll be filled rather quickly, with the onslaught of the war and such."

Again, the war. Again, the mention of potential injuries and death. Again, the queasy feeling circling the insides of Hinata's stomach.

Four flights of stairs might have been a gruelling trip for anyone of average physical capabilities, but for kunoichis who had been trained for fitness and endurance, the exercise was almost effortless. Hinata was secretly relieved that Anko had not insisted they take the private elevators. She suffered from acute claustrophobia and nausea in elevators.

"So I managed to speak with some of the old bats around the hospital," Anko declared, grimacing from the memory, "and none of them seemed to require any precise help. The ladies in the cafeteria said they wouldn't mind your help, but only at lunchtime and dinnertime, as a server and line-cook."

"I can do that," Hinata told herself aloud, hoping she sounded as confident as she did in her mind.

"Great," said an easily-convinced Anko. "And when it's not lunch or dinner, you'll be working around as a nurse's aide. Alright?"

"W-What exactly will I have to do?" Hinata questioned, only half-listening as she surveyed the fourth floor corridors. Anko had been right: it was still quite empty, save for several emergency patients.

"Well, I've only discussed it with one of the nurses, but she's willing to take you on. None of our veteran nurses or medics has admitted to needing an aide, so she was the only one. You see, she was only officially certified last weekend."

"Oh," Hinata said plainly, feeling slightly insecure and pointless.

"Don't worry; you know her!" Anko laughed. "It's Yamanaka Ino. She's recognized as Tsunade-sama and Sakura's trainee, so you can drop that silly look on your face. She knows a lot more than she lets on, really. She's a very sweet girl."

"Ino-chan?" Hinata said, a small smile warming her features as the mental image of her friend crept into mind. "I-I was expecting her to join her team in the war…"

"Oh, no. Shikamaru's leading his genin team on a sabotage mission and Choji has been recruited to a group of shinobi heading out to join the Suna forces."

"Ino has only been working for two full shifts since she was hired, so she's only got a roll list of a few patients."

"A few?"

"Be thankful it's only a few," Anko warned. "When the injured ninjas start pouring in, you'll be praying there were more volunteers."

"Won't there be?" Hinata asked, suddenly fretful. She envisioned herself scurrying around the hospital like an overworked mouse, grabbing coffee here and there to keep her eyes open as her list of duties grew with every second. Although she knew it to be mere imagination in her usual panicked states, she couldn't help but feel like this one could actually be spot-on.

"Definitely. Don't sweat it. I've already got Tsunade calling in summons for at least ten to fifteen others around the village who aren't going to be fighting in the war and could probably take some time off to lend a hand around here."

Hinata refrained herself from exclaiming with joy, instead sighing with relief. Checking patients, working beneath Ino, and helping out in the cafeteria at lunch and dinner. She was confident she could juggle the three duties effectively, being her efficiently organized and competent self, but was doubtful she could handle any more.

"A-All right, if that's all, then I'm sure there'll be no problems," Hinata agreed. She was deprived of a reply: Anko paused outside a door labelled 402.

"Here. This room is empty. There are no keys for any rooms, for keep your valuables someplace safe. Also," Anko added, "Ino's your neighbour. Room 401, that's hers. I'll bet she's inside right now; why don't you go check in with her?"

Hinata nodded gratefully and thanked Anko as she watched the violet-haired kunoichi's retreating figure vanish down the corridor. She didn't bother to delicately unpack her belongings; Hinata simply tossed the black bag onto the windowsill and discarded her coat and scarf onto the chair reserved for room visitors.

In the space of two minutes, Hinata had turned on her heel and shut the door of her room behind her, softly rapping her knuckles on the wood of Ino's room in one fell motion. And she had little to wait – thankfully – before the knob was rattled vehemently and turned, swinging open the door to reveal the blue-eyed blonde.

"Hinata-chan!" Ino exclaimed enthusiastically, slender arms leaping up to seize Hinata's neck in a tight embrace. "I'm so excited you're my aide and not some snobby little medic-trainee…"

As Ino rambled hopelessly on, Hinata scanned the room over her friend's shoulder. Ino had wasted no time in making herself at home: there were posters, photographs and flowers adorning the room, bathing the area in a heavenly aroma of orchids and peach blossoms. Hinata breathed in the scent as she gently unhooked Ino's arms from her shoulders.

"Well, tell m-me what to do and I'll get on it," Hinata smiled encouragingly, pleased to see Ino straighten considerably and tuck a strand of hair professionally behind one ear.

"Right, then." Scooping her clipboard neatly off the edge of her nightstand, icy eyes scrutinized the list carefully. "I've got a few things you'd certainly be up to." As she examined her duties, Ino's stare suddenly froze mid-scan and rivetingly raised itself to Hinata. In an eerily calm voice, Ino dramatically inhaled and whispered, "_I know exactly the thing_."

"Ino…" Hinata began warningly, unsure whether or not she trusted Ino in this melodramatically inspired state.

"No, no, I've got it. I'm _really _glad you came along now, Hinata-chan. You can take Uchiha Sasuke off of my back!"

Hinata's eyes widened. "W-What!"

"Yeah, well, since he's only been in Konoha for about a week, he was assigned to me, because I'm a new nurse and the other medics were all clog-full of their own specialty patients. I've only seen him once – Tsunade-sama has him running tests day and night, because his condition is really unstable and _weird_. I don't even want to know what _happened _to him out there; he's really bad. Well, as you can guess, he's a big pain in the-"

"I-I'm going to have to-?"

"You just look after him, Hinata-chan; it's no big deal," Ino dismissed, waving her hand breezily. "Just like – you know – taking care of grannies at retirement homes. Like we had to do for community hours in the Ninja Academy when we were younger."

"You said he was a pain," Hinata pointed out, frowning.

"Well, yes." Ino seemed to be regretting her bluntness. " But, um, I'm sure you'll get used to him."

"I thought you l-loved him," said Hinata, a silent question in her tone.

Ino scoffed. "I'm not _Sakura_, Hinata. I know how to let go and move on." Her expression faltered slightly, eyes distant as an image of Kiba entered both minds. After an awkward pause, Ino added, "Yeah, Sasuke's a real puzzle, to be absolutely honest with you. And sort of mean … I won't lie … But don't forget, Hinata-chan, that that's why you're here!" Ino winked cheekily and waved her clipboard in triumph.

Hinata inwardly pouted. She disliked being taken advantage of, even if it was insignificant and as favours to friends. It still made her feel weak, unappreciated and generally on the short end of the stick. "Y-You'll still be taking care of him, too, right? I-I mean … we'd be alternating between your list of patients, you and I?"

Ino's expression sobered. "Sorry, Hinata-chan … I really need you to take Sasuke completely out of my hands, though. With all of these emergency shinobi ready to come pouring in the doors any day now, I'm going to be even busier than ever. The plain truth is that you might not even see me around very much. Sasuke is a long-term patient, and he'll need a constant caretaker. If I could just get him removed from my rounds … I mean, if I want to get all of my duties done, I don't think I can keep-"

Hinata sighed in surrender and lifted a hand in defeat. "I understand, Ino," she said quietly, her voice dropping with every word. "I'll do it." Ye gads, she was a pushover. Although Hinata knew she possessed the courage and right to disagree with and refuse Ino, she wouldn't, for Ino had sound reasoning and sheer belief in Hinata.

As with Tsunade and Anko. Anyone who sincerely believed in her would be able to hook her into anything without further effort. She owed them greatly, for their faith in her had been able to instil faith in herself. And so Hinata was left with no regrets to her decision as she accepted Uchiha Sasuke's hospital file, medical record and schedule from Ino.

She could hear her own boots resounding with her echoing footfalls as she slowly made her way down the hallway, the very same corridor of the fourth floor she now resided in. Mentally, she counted the numbered rooms as she passed them in search of Room 413.

Her feet dragged somewhat, gradually slowing to a stop as she neared her destination. Standing directly outside Room 413, Hinata couldn't help but feel waves of hesitation leaking over her in layers, one by one. Anxiety, fear, apprehension, discomfort …

Her, Hyuuga Hinata. Left to Uchiha Sasuke and _only _Uchiha Sasuke for the remainder of his term in the Konoha Hospital. Who knew how long that could be? The prodigy, the traitor, the killer, on the other side of the door she now stood before, with her stupidly weak knees and her suddenly cold feet and her madly shaking hands. What was she thinking? Could shedo this? _Really _do this?

And once again, she was left with nothing to do but the one she hated most – waiting for her answer.

**. . . . .**

**A/N: **Hope all of my regular SasuHina readers enjoyed that, despite the lack of interaction; I tried to compensate for it with the potential mention of prospective interaction. And I really hope _fairheartstrife _liked it, because she has been a great help in the past month or so, to both my friend and I. Thanks again! :)  
Review if you can, :) I'd like to hear you _speak _out_. _


	2. Do Not Disturb

**A/N: **Chapter Two of _Stars and Boulevards_! I hope you like and enjoy; much thanks goes out to Hinata6, Nitinha56, Sepsis, Echo Uchiha, ppeach2, fairheartstrife and blackraven615 for reviewing!

"**STARS AND BOULEVARDS"  
**_A SasuHina story  
_FRIGHTYMARE

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto  
**Song Inspirations: **Jar of Hearts – Christina Perri  
Haunted – Taylor Swift  
Stars and Boulevards - Augustana

**. . . . .**

_Do Not Disturb_

Her fingers were hesitant on the cold of the doorknob, palm chilled and twisting uncertainly around the metal as she turned it. Hinata restrained from cringing slightly as she swung the door away from her, revealing a man. No longer a child, or an angst-ridden teenager with a troubled past – a man, with his own problems and honest mistakes, sitting upright in his hospital bed with the lower two-thirds of body unmoving as he slowly turned his head to face the distraction.

Uchiha Sasuke, a man.

Truly, the maturity that had inevitably caught up with him in his absence from her occasional sight had not discouraged his appearance in the least. Dark hair had lengthened substantially, hanging over his forehead and between his eyes where once, his Konoha forehead protector might have been. The haunting hatred was ever-present in the depths of his unchanged onyx eyes. Although he was still as skinny as he had been before, he was now muscular, tall and lean.

"H-Hello, Uchiha-san. I-I'm your caretaker for your term in the h-hospital, so – so I hope we can … get along." Hinata exhaled with an air of self-displeasure; she figured she hadn't made the best impression she could have. But then again, it wasn't as though he even gave a damn – it was quite clear he wasn't in the hospital of his ex-village to 'get along' with anyone. She was sure he'd be leaving again, almost immediately after he healed completely. After checking his medical file, she'd discovered that he barely possessed the essential energy crucial to meagre feats such as walking, maintaining a stance and feeding himself.

A low scoff caught her amidst her own revelations.

Biting her lip, Hinata chose to ignore the contemptuous sound and instead willed her feet to cross the room, over to where the medicinal cabinet was. She successfully managed to avoid flinching from beneath his glare by attempting to run over Sasuke's medical file with her photographic memory as she approached the cabinet.

Once the open door of the cabinet was between the two of them and his gaze no longer bore into the side of her head, Hinata's consciousness relaxed considerably, but her shoulders remained tense from his mere presence. She scanned the contents of the cabinet before correctly selecting the prescribed medicine and organizing it on the counter below.

She kept the cabinet door open just to impede his stare, which she no longer knew whether or not was there.

"What happened to the blonde?"

His voice, lower and thicker and more guarded than any she had ever heard, startled her so that she jerked the bottle in her hands as a light rain of surplus pills cascaded from the trembling capsule to litter by the ground at her feet. Sighing to herself, she shakily pushed the capsule away from her.

Uchiha Sasuke, apparently, wasn't one to remember names – not even of the ninjas he'd been classmates with at one point at his life. She wondered if there was any possibility at all that he knew even remotely who she was.

"I-Ino-chan?" She dropped quickly to her knees as she felt the intense bitterness behind his eyes again, busying herself with scooping the scattered pills – now soiled – into the palm of her quivering hand.

"I know her name," Sasuke said lethargically; Hinata noticed the movement from her peripheral vision as he leaned back against the mountain of pillows. "I asked what happened to her, Hinata."

Hinata could hardly refrain herself from uttering a small exclamation of surprise at the mention of her own name. So he _did _recall … and he clearly recalled Ino, as well. She was inexplicably slightly happier that she was valuable enough to be remembered by anyone at all. She thought herself to be rather invisible a person.

"Ino-chan is r-really busy with the w-war patients, Uchiha-san. She asked me to l-look after you instead." A mild lie in itself: Ino had only really wanted Sasuke off of her list, and had used the onslaught of war patients as her excuse. Hinata resisted from revealing this information.

"Didn't know you were a medic," Sasuke said simply, though his tone implied that he really didn't care.

Hinata, however, chose to ignore that. He had responded and that was all that mattered: perhaps a conversation could actually get off the ground now. So, she said, "Shizune-sempai and Anko-sempai a-asked me to help out h-here since I can't fight in the war…"

Her voice trailed off at the close of her sentence until it was little more than a hoarse whisper. She saw Sasuke's ebony eyebrow lift in mental question and was quite relieved when he decided not to ask her, outright and aloud.

He merely gave another of his scoffs, a simple "Hn," before leaning his head back staring at the intersection of the ceiling and wall opposite the room. Hinata imagined that would feel nice – almost like arching your back. It pained so much in the reciprocal of the angle you were most accustomed to that it felt nice – in a fashion similar to cracking your neck both ways.

As she lifted herself to her feet and slid the pills she'd picked up from the ground into the trash bin, Hinata glanced at Sasuke from the corner of her eye. He didn't seem to be very interested in getting to know who she was in the least, and nor was he expressing any sort of attention to anything else in the room, apart from an empty wall, either.

Licking her lips with indecision, Hinata hastily closed the medicinal cabinet door and dispensed three new pills from the capsule into her palm. Closing her fist with a slight frown, Hinata crept as quietly as she could to the very edge of his bed and looked at him.

He noticed. She _knew _he noticed, for he clenched his jaw as he continued to ignore her very existence.

After a disgruntled silence in which she could do little else but stand like a doll, his lips parted in exasperation, and although the gesture was quite soundless, the movement drew her attention.

"I'm not taking those," Sasuke told her finally, the indifference layering his words insinuating that he was serious. His eyes remained locked on the pills in her closed hand.

Slightly stunned and unsure of how best to proceed, Hinata remained still, hoping that he might elaborate. Her mind, in the meantime, began to try to conceive the procedures someone like Ino, Shizune or Anko might have taken in this situation.

For Ino, she might quite possibly have been absolutely outraged, or pushed to a nerve-wracking ultimatum that she would break down – either or. For Shizune, Hinata was sure she would be somewhat more professional, and coax Sasuke into the medication, or perhaps plead a little. Anko would initiate the desperate measures, insisting that he take the medication with threats of violence or warnings that she would send for the Hokage.

After a short session of deliberation on the no-brainer, Hinata settled on Shizune's approach.

"Um, Uchiha-san … if you don't take your m-medication, your chakra won't be able t-to regenerate."

Sasuke scoffed. "It's _chakra. _It'll regenerate on its own."

"Y-Your medical report says your c-circulatory system was severely damaged, Uchiha-s-san. You don't have any k-kinetic chakra left."

"That's why I can't walk," Sasuke added harshly, as though it were obvious.

"Yes," Hinata replied, choosing to play as the naïve, kind-hearted fool oblivious to his condescending tone of voice. "Um, the – without any trace of kinetic chakra left in your system, it can't _regenerate. _It may take a c-couple – years – to wholly develop again on its own…"

"On its own," Sasuke repeated slowly, his voice as flat as ever. "So this medication…"

"-Will help it-!"

"No," Sasuke cut her off.

Hinata took a shuddering breath before realizing her fingernails had dug impressive crevices in the palm of her hand. Loosening her closed fist in the slightest, she tilted her head to the side and leaned forward, apprehensive. "P-Pardon me?"

"I said, no." In the same demeaning, patronizing manner, onyx eyes shifted to glare at her from his marginal vision. Hinata had to force herself not to flinch from the intensity of his glower. There was something so remotely frosty in his gaze that she couldn't help but feel shivers course down the length of her spine in the tentative anticipation of what other ruthless words he might direct towards her.

"U-Uchiha-san, I-"

"No, I'm not taking the damn medication," Sasuke said, raising his voice only to add a warning edge. The mood wrapped around his words was coarse and rough, reminiscent to Hinata of the way he'd once always admonished Haruno Sakura for being too close or annoying.

"I'm sorry, Uchiha-san, b-but you have to-!" Hinata tried to say, but again, she was rudely interrupted.

"I'll take it when I want to."

Hinata paused, trying to decide whether or not this was a good omen – it was seemingly acceptance of the fact that his medication was necessary. Yet, her mind drifted instantly to the medication itself. He was prescribed one thing, and here he was, proposing another. Nope: that would not do at all.

"But Uchiha-san, you must take the medication as soon as you wake up. I-It has to work a twenty-four hour cycle under-"

"I don't wake up at the same time every day," Sasuke snapped. "There's no such thing as a twenty-four hour cycle."

"- Under the assumption that you wake up at t-the same time every day," Hinata finished lamely, her voice small and quiet beneath his biting one. She felt quite stupid by now.

"Well, it's already been three hours since I _did _wake up, and I just _said _I _don't _wake up at the same time every-"

"Please, just _take _the medication!" Hinata implored, surprising even herself as she softly cut Sasuke off mid-sentence. "Please, Uchiha-san!" Now, she had gone around full-circle, from professional Shizune to breaking-point Ino. She could feel hot shame rising in her throat; she had known it all along, though. She would not be able to do this. Who was she to delude herself that she could handle Uchiha Sasuke?

But _why _was he being _so damn difficult_?

"I won't do something just because I see you cry over it," Sasuke warned her sharply. "Your friend Ino learned that her own way."

"Haven't you t-taken this medication before? I-I mean, before today?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm not taking it again."

Hinata sighed slowly, her shoulders trembling as they fell into a tense position. They were almost hunched, even. Biting her lip, she murmured, "S-Sorry, Uchiha-san, but you must understand, you _need _to t-take your medicine."

She was met with yet another low scoff. Closing her eyes, Hinata tightened her fist, inhaled and tried once again.

"Otherwise, Uchiha-san, you know you'll … you'll d-d-d-d-die … without it …" She trailed off into silence, gingerly glancing up at him from beneath her lashes.

There followed, in the silence that ensued, the thickest tension of waiting Hinata had ever experienced. She lingered over his bed in her arched, uptight state, hoping he'd even heard her, for her voice had nearly failed her on the word 'die'.

And at last, his answer came, and it was inevitably the last answer she expected, or wished to find a response to.

"What do you care if I die … _Konoha_ kunoichi?"

Hinata came to the conclusion that she was _not _fit to handle Uchiha Sasuke. As skin-deep and shallowly bitter as he could be, there was also a hidden side of him, in which he resented things for perfectly understandable reasons, but at the same time, he took these reasons far beyond their intentional purposes and made life all the more difficult for her.

How was she to reply to him now? There would be nothing good to come out of denying that she was from or loyal to Konoha; that would be outright dishonest and _low_, even before a traitor. And she could not say that she genuinely cared about him, because truthfully, before now, he had only been connected to her thoughts through Naruto.

To help her clear the air slightly before she conceived her answer, Hinata hugged herself and took a cautious step forward, closer to the edge of his bed, and said, "You won't _die _without it … Um, can we please just f-forget about – about Konoha, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke said, with a scowl, "This is your home."

"This is _your _home too, no matter what you say it is! It will always be your home; you grew up here, Uchiha-san!" Hinata exclaimed hoarsely, tilting her head forwards ever so slightly that her hair obscured her eyes.

"Shut up," Sasuke commanded in a low growl, his stare fixated straight ahead as though she were not by his bedside but was in fact an invisible substance hovering in the air before him.

"Pretend, just for a _moment_," Hinata pleaded, "t-that nothing is happening and that n-nothing has happened … can we please just talk with each other as two people and n-not like a Konoha kunoichi and a … a –"

"Traitor," Sasuke finished bitingly.

"Please."

"I'm done talking to you."

"Regardless," Hinata cried out, "that I am from Konoha and _you _are a t-traitor, Uchiha-san, I don't wish to see you die! N-No one should d-d-die …"

"There are people," Sasuke said coldly, "who deserve to."

"But you are _not one of them_," Hinata said, glass tears wetting the skin around her eyes. Her voice had gone nearly completely mute, barely on the edge of huskiness as her throat constricted with the begging that reflected in her gaze. "Your life is not so misled as y-you seem to think, Uchiha-san, and-"

"-I've killed people."

"Y-You said it yourself … some p-people do deserve to die," Hinata croaked. "A-And others don't."

"You don't know a thing about my life," Sasuke said, even more coldly than before.

"All I know," Hinata admitted with a sigh, "is that it s-shouldn't be over … just y-yet."

"What more is there to my life?" Sasuke asked languidly, hands forming fists in his lap. "You don't know my life, Hinata."

"Please, Uchiha-san, take your m-medication, because I know you w-will do so much more … alive …" Now she simply sounded downright stupid, but she was only using all she had left.

"You think I'd regret dying?" Sasuke asked, bitter voice laced with disbelief. "I'm not trying to die and I know I won't without it. I just don't want to take that fucked up medication."

"Please just trust me," Hinata implored. "I-I promise you that you'll recover quickly and t-then you can leave Konoha and _then _find whatever else is left-"

"You haven't even answered that question yet. What is left for me?"

"M-Maybe," Hinata ventured, knowing that she was possibly taking the biggest risk of her life – but hopefully, his question was enough excuse to warrant this bold response from her, "Maybe you have it wrong, Uchiha-san … m-m-maybe what's left for you is not out t-there … but h-h-h-here…"

Something flashed in emotionless eyes, but he did not move. Instead, he remained eerily silent as he turned his head to face her full-on, onyx gaze betraying little of his thoughts. After a moment of heavy apprehension, he repeated, "I have it wrong."

The way he spoke was almost identical to the way someone else might utter a phrase they had only just heard, that had shattered their previous beliefs or overall confidence. Although Sasuke didn't seem to appear as though he was inwardly reforming in the least; on the contrary, he seemed more amused than he was affected.

"U-Um…" Fearing she had made a mistake in her arguments, Hinata dropped her hands to her sides and stared dumbly at him.

"I'll take your word for it, then," Sasuke said, the edge lifting from his voice only slightly. "I'll recover quickly and then decide what's left for me and where it is." The scoff that followed his words only assured Hinata that only a fraction of Sasuke's speech had been absolutely serious.

And for a moment, she considered the possibility that he was mocking her. Because they both knew absolutely well that he would never stay in Konoha, not even for a potential well-to-do future. He was Uchiha Sasuke, a missing-nin, an Avenger, an Uchiha. He didn't belong in this village of his past.

But Hinata's self-control was ever-present, and she chose not to blow the situation out of safe proportions by accusing him of mocking her. Instead, she once again settled into her naïve, oblivious façade and gave a small smile of fake triumph as she extended an open palm bearing three pills.

"Thank you."

Sasuke eyed her as he leaned back his head and forced the three pills down his throat. She dashed to hand him a glass of water, which he downed in a single gulp, and, having swallowed, said to her, "Whatever. Just stay out of my way."

Hinata half-wanted to point out that he had no way, seeing as he wouldn't be able to move from the bed for at least a month, but, having always been somewhat gullible and superstitious, she had no intention of risking a jinx. "Um, a-alright, but you still have to d-do what I say…?" she ventured, detesting the way her voice thinned into a deformed question.

Sasuke only repeated, "Just stay out of my way."

Nodding, Hinata left the room in silence, quite taken aback by his overall coldness. She had heard of his inability to make friends – and his desire to avoid it – but she hadn't believed it to be so … so ridiculously _true_. All of it. He was unbelievably cold, harsh, indifferent, apathetic, uncaring and dark. She wasn't so sure she understood how Naruto could tolerate such a guy; she knew that even she never could.

Having attended to Sasuke, Hinata headed down to the cafeteria to help out with the lunch rush. She was presented with a neat white outfit, a pristine little cap and a cute apron. With a giggle, Hinata tied her forehead protector around her neck in the fashion of a chef's red tie.

Working as a line cook was relatively easy, and she had only to follow recipes and serve the food as was requested. It was not long before she had formed sturdily good bonds with the other lunch ladies, all in the course of her first day. They welcomed her with kindness and optimism, telling her that she had potential as a cook when Hinata continued to doubt herself.

The day wore on, but Hinata soon found that being a hospital volunteer was not as bad as it seemed. Truly, the other members of the staff were compassionate and good-hearted towards her, and she had a nagging feeling that beneath it all, their true intentions were to sympathize with her for being made to take care of the Uchiha.

And no matter how many times Hinata repeated to herself that Sasuke was another human being, another former comrade, another of her childhood acquaintances and a fellow Konoha-born ninja, she could not bring herself to _like _him very much. He was as stubborn and difficult like no other she had ever met, not even Hanabi. She knew even her younger, hard-headed sister would have listened to her and taken the medicine almost straightaway.

**. . . . .**

The morning of the morrow brought with it utter confusion on Hinata's behalf.

Sasuke was being unusually less responsive than what was considered normal for the stoic teenager. He spoke all but one word to her – _"leave" – _when she asked if there was anything she could do for him after having given Sasuke his medication and tidied up the room.

Uchiha Sasuke – a mystery in itself, but Hinata believed that there were legitimate, comprehensible reasons behind everything he did so cryptically. However, she could not be bothered to linger on it now, for she had other duties to return to.

And so, she gently closed the door behind her as she pulled her cook's cap from her back pocket and donned it, turning on her heel and heading for the elevator. The lunch rush passed without much commotion – Hinata met several of the soldier ninjas who had only just come back from their missions on account of injured teammates. They waited on their recuperating comrades in the cafeteria and made for friendly conversation.

She learned quite a few from them, too. She learned that the war was strong, and had hit Konoha harder than had been expected. With Kirigakure on the other side of the war, backed by many other of the smaller but forceful villages, Konoha and Suna held shaky chances.

Hinata could not help but worry for Naruto and Shino and Kiba as she envisioned them in her imagination, risking their lives whilst she ladled soup into bowls and clamped bread on either side of sandwiches for patients and visitors in the hospital. And it was all thanks to her stupid, failing heart.

After she was excused from lunch duty, having helped the ladies clean up the areas behind the counter, Hinata dashed off to the fourth floor once again, sandwich in hand, feeling quite overwhelmed by this back-and-forth schedule of destinations. She entered Sasuke's room with a light knock, which he chose not to heed, and began to fulfill her routine: feeding him his sandwich lunch; assisting him to the bathroom, where he was thankfully capable of cleaning himself; drying and brushing his hair, which she knew he could also do by himself but she volunteered to nevertheless; and then hurrying off back to meet the dinner schedule in the cafeteria.

Hinata returned the next morning with a tray of breakfast for Sasuke. When she entered, he was already awake, but he seemingly hadn't been hungry enough to bother ringing the bell to summon her. Neither did he mention or complain about how _long _he had been awake, a silent and small gesture Hinata greatly appreciated.

Seriously, the last thing she needed was a whiny Uchiha.

But perhaps a whiny Uchiha would be an improvement from an anti-social, introverted, angst-ridden Uchiha. There was not much she could do or _like_ from being his caretaker, and nothing to look forward to when she woke up and found herself in the hospital and realized she would need to head down the hall to Sasuke's room.

So, that day and the next that ensued were fairly neutral ones for the both of them. As the days passed by, they fell into quite the autonomous routine.

Hinata would wake up and walk down the hall on the fourth corridor to Sasuke's room. She would knock, and he would never respond, but she would enter anyway. She'd cross to the medicine cabinet and retrieve his three pills, hand them to him in silence, and he would accept without a word of thanks or acknowledgment.

After he finished taking his medication, Hinata would softly inquire as to whether or not there was anything more he needed, the answer always a mute jerk of the head accompanied by a scowl. They had yet to carry a conversation as lengthy or as significant as the one they had pointlessly stretched on her first day of the job.

She would head down to the cafeteria once again, and then afterwards, return to check on him once more. Again, she asked if there was anything he needed, and again he would reply with a shake of his head. She wondered if there was something actually bothering Sasuke, for lately he seemed even more withdrawn than usual, not bothering to even use his voice for responses.

He would point at a glass of water. He would shrug if she asked an indirect question. He would sink down into the covers and ignore her if he wanted to be left alone to sleep. He would glare at her if he wanted her away.

She had come to understand his strange mannerisms and read his gestures well – better than anyone, she supposed – over the past two or three days, but she still didn't deem it normal. She figured something might be troubling her patient.

Hoping to ask him, Hinata dusted off her hands and removed the small cap off of her head as she turned to face one of the plumper lunch ladies. "C-Can I be excused for a m-moment? I just need to take care of something…"

"Of course, Hinata-chan! Go right ahead, but hurry back!"

"Thank you, obaa-san!" Hinata hurried for the door, narrowly dodging a passing nurse that nearly collided with her. Lately, the entire hospital staff had been scurrying willy-nilly about the hospital in every ward and hallway, due to the large increase in the number of patients.

In the past couple of days, more than a few ninja platoons had been rushed back from their missions due to serious injuries. Hinata had begun to selfishly thank the gods that she had been able to escape the ferocity of the war.

"Hinata-chan!"

She whirled sharply on her heel at the sound of her name, recognizing the voice instantly. It belonged to her medic friend who had also managed to evade the clutches of misfortune and war. "Ino-chan?"

"Hinata-chan! Wait up!" Ino scurried to her friend's side as they both slowed to a walking pace. "Where are you rushing to in such a hurry? Someplace to be?"

"A-Actually," Hinata admitted conversationally, "I'm supposed to be on l-lunch duty, so … no."

"Where are you going?" Ino asked again, absent-mindedly as she checked her clipboard. "I'm off to see a new patient on the fifth floor … can you believe it? Already there have been so many war shinobi brought back that the entire fourth floor and half the fifth is full …"

Hinata took advantage of Ino's rambling to avoid mentioning that her destination was Sasuke's room, but she soon discovered that Ino was far sharper than she gave her credit for.

"Wait – you're off to see Sasuke, aren't you? Why?"

"I-I think something's been bothering him, Ino-chan. He hasn't been v-very-"

"Don't say what I think you're going to say," Ino warned. "I had the exact same inkling, Hinata-chan! That he's got a problem, right? Autism?"

"N-No!" Hinata exclaimed, appalled by the suggestion. "I'm sure he doesn't have autism, Ino-chan. B-But he hasn't spoken a word since my first day. Not one."

"Not at all?" Ino's forehead wrinkled with concern. "That's curious, Hinata-chan … he was always snapping at me when I was his nurse. Maybe it's just because you don't annoy him."

But Hinata was also quite confident that that was not the problem. There was something more to it, she knew.

"W-Well, I'm going to confront him anyway, Ino-chan." Hinata swerved as a medic passed by, pushing an empty gurney. "I'll see you later, then?"

"I'll find you in your room after dinner!" Ino called out, as she pressed the elevator button and waved to Hinata, who was approaching Sasuke's door.

Hinata nodded mutely in response. Her thoughts quickly left Ino behind as she neared Sasuke's door. _Something doesn't feel quite the same._

No, something wasn't right. Something was out of place, and she didn't need to glance at the _Do Not Disturb _sign dangling from the knob to realize it. Sasuke had never before donned a _DND _sign. The hospital presented each room with a complimentary set, but Hinata had hardly seen any patients use them, because others knew better than to enter closed doors without knocking.

Regardless, Hinata knocked as she always did, and again received no answer. In any other circumstances of the previous half-week, Hinata would have merely swung open the door and expected to be greeted with the unchanged sight of an upright Sasuke, glaring out the window, up at the ceiling or at the opposite wall.

But she hesitated this time, for she could literally feel the waves of a disturbing lack of balance. Something was definitely going on. Hinata's fingers tightened around the knob, suddenly cold, and she twisted it without a second thought, desperate enough to disregard the sign.

As soon as she did, however, Hinata was unsure whether or not to be relieved she'd interfered or regretful of being made to see the horrific scene. Uchiha Sasuke crouched on the edge of the open windowsill, head leaned down to gaze at the streets below. Both hands clutched the edges of the window, as though he were hanging on by an unsteady whim.

The realization struck her instantaneously. He had no kinetic chakra to sustain his life if he fell the distance. She hoped desperately, as she ran across the room, that he would be worth saving after all.

**. . . . . .**

**A/N: **Of course it's TBC. But if you can, leave me a review! They always motivate me to update whenever I read them. And I _do _read all of them…! :)  
**(Echo Uchiha: **No, I don't think so ... yet. Right now it's just on Hiatus. Thanks for taking the interest!**)**


	3. Help

**A/N: **Thanks to all who reviewed! And** Hinata6**, I miss talking to you, too!  
I've become an enormous fan of Bleach as of late. Anyone else? I love the pairing of Momo and Toshiro. (In fact, Hisao in this chapter is what I imagine a Naruto-drawing of Hisagi Shuhei would look like. Cuter, boyish.)

"**STARS AND BOULEVARDS"  
**_A SasuHina story  
_FRIGHTYMARE

**Disclaimer: **Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto  
**Song Inspirations: **Jar of Hearts – Christina Perri  
Haunted – Taylor Swift  
Stars and Boulevards - Augustana

**. . . . .**

_Help_

Hinata rushed across the room to where Sasuke was crouched on the window ledge. "U-U-Uchiha-san!" she said, as loudly as she could muster.

He heard her, for his shoulder twitched visibly, but he only craned his neck down further, causing a bolt of fear to leap up her throat. Was he really going to …?

"Uchiha-san!" Again, her cry fell to seemingly deaf ears.

Sasuke never moved from his position for what seemed like ages. He merely crouched on the sill, with Hinata frozen barely three feet away from the wall. She stared at him with frantic white eyes.

"S-Sasuke?"

At the mention of his name, he glanced back over his shoulder, tilting his chin upwards in arrogant acknowledgement. Astonished that she'd managed to convey a reaction, Hinata paused in her words.

"W-What are you doing, Uchi – S-Sasuke?"

"Mental math."

"E-Eh?"

"Mental math," Sasuke repeated dully. "I'm determining the exact distance to the ground using estimated trigonometry."

Hinata couldn't resist a confused smile. "Could you please do it inside the window?" she suggested softly. "You r-really had me scared…"

Sasuke shrugged a single shoulder. "No. I'm considering the jump."

The panic returned to Hinata's eyes. "Please don't! W-Why are you – why would you even-?"

"Well," Sasuke deadpanned, completely cutting her off mid-sentence, "I was thinking about what we discussed that first day."

"That – that first … day?" Hinata struggled to recall. Sooner and more explosively sudden than she would have liked, the recollection of their first – and only – conversation returned to her, and she stiffened. "S-Sasuke-san, I never – I never meant for you to – to feel like you had to … have to …"

She found that she could hardly even form coherent words. At a loss for what to say, she merely spread her arms wide in a meekly exasperated gesture.

One ebony eyebrow flew up in silent question.

"-had to kill yourself!" Hinata blurted out finally, feeling her shoulders tremble as they lifted with every breath she took. "I mean, it's perfectly under-"

"Kill myself?" Sasuke repeated. The other eyebrow followed the first one up, seemingly mocking her.

"W-W-Well, w-wasn't that what you – you were – you're going to – wanted to do?" Hinata spluttered, completely taken aback by his cold answer. "You – the window – down – you –"

"Is sitting on the windowsill a crime now?" Sasuke said tonelessly. He leapt, graceful as an aristocratic cat, off of the ledge and immediately buckled under the weight on his feet.

Hinata bit back a gasp and hurried to push her forearm against his back in support. He gave an involuntary grunt as she dug her elbow purposefully into his back, hoping to keep him upright at the very least.

Glancing down, she noticed that the straight leg he was leaning upon was shaking.

Hinata swallowed her inhibitions and wrapped her whole arm around his back. She heaved with all of her might in an attempt to lift some of the weight from his legs. He wasn't helping much – in fact, he felt as though he were purposefully shifting all of his weight down, as though he simply wanted to drop dead.

He stared at her from the corner of his eye – something she didn't notice until she glanced up angrily at him.

"What – are – you – doing?" she hissed through her teeth, which were ground together so tightly she was sure they would compress each other into shattered pieces in no time.

"Just let go," said Sasuke.

Hinata felt like cringing from his frosty voice, but her energy was momentarily directed at supporting him.

"Just let go of me," Sasuke said again.

And again she refused.

Hinata sighed in frustration and weariness as she jerked her shoulders with what seemed to be the last of her physical energy, and Sasuke's form straightened in the slightest. Pleased with this smallest of successes, Hinata took a deep breath and prepared to harness her reserve energy for another try.

"Hinata."

Her arm faltered. "You-!"

Sasuke was temporarily sidetracked from trying to make her release her hold on him. "What is it?"

"You … remember my name," Hinata said, shocked.

"I don't forget names."

"But you – you called me by - s-sorry. Just give me a second," muttered Hinata lamely, averting her eyes shyly.

He followed the movements as she whispered a mute mantra to herself, stacking up the motivation inside of her so that she could drag him to his bed.

Before she could, he tried again, "Let _go_ of me … Hinata."

"Stop that," she snapped quietly, shifting her footing so that they had moved half-a-pivot towards the bed.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "LET GO OF ME, HYUUGA."

Hinata made an angry sound, crawling out from under him. "FINE!" she shouted, as loudly as she could. She placed her hands on her hips as she turned to face him, wishing she didn't feel so satisfied at seeing his figure crumple helplessly to the floor.

"-the hell?" Sasuke muttered, propping himself up on his arms and glaring at her.

Hinata took a step back, boldly meeting his fierce gaze. "What?" she hissed.

"What was that for?"

"YOU SAID TO LET GO," Hinata shouted shrilly, subconsciously forming her hands into fists. "What was _that _for?"

"I don't need your help," Sasuke scowled. "Just go and play with your little girlfriends or something. I can handle myself."

"Don't underestimate me," Hinata said, narrowing her eyes.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "I'm not underestimating you. But if this was me on you, I think we both know who'd win."

Hinata smiled disbelievingly and let out a cynical breath. "Hah." She kicked his foot with a light tap of her own. His face contorted into a wince of excruciating pain. "I think we do," Hinata said, turning on her heel and stalking out of the room.

He'd figure it out soon enough. He _did _need her help.

**. . . . . **

Hinata took her time as she stepped down to the hospital cafeteria. She took her apron from the hook on the wall and donned it. The old lady working on shift – Hinata recognized her as the cooking-nin who had once worked at the Hokage's tower – gave her a friendly wave before returning her attention to a customer.

Hinata crossed to the counter opposite the elderly lady and began to slice bread. Several of the visitors had already begun to flow steadily into the area. Glancing up at the elderly lady in confusion, Hinata realized something she had forgotten.

Today, the Hokage would be visiting the hospital. Tsunade rarely visited, so when she did, they made sure that only the most critical of patients would receive her exceptional cures. And now, in the midst of the war, almost every single patient was a critical patient. Otherwise, they would either still be on the battlefield or six feet under and roasting in hell.

So when Tsunade was 'working her magic', all visitors were required to leave the room – preferably the whole ward. Most of them liked to dawdle around the cafeteria.

Hinata forced a smile on her face as she was confronted by a customer.

"Egg salad sandwich, please." The boy had a cute face with untidy black hair. He looked to be about her age, and with a hungry grin on his face, Hinata was reminded somewhat of a combination of Naruto and Sasuke.

"Egg salad, coming right up," Hinata said brightly, her smile widening unconsciously. It was no longer an effort – it was almost involuntary.

As she tossed the sandwich together, she began to list off many more reasons to be happy. Naruto hadn't been admitted as of yet, which meant he was uninjured, or his wounds were light enough to be cured by medics on the battlefield; Tenten, Neji, Kiba and Shino hadn't been admitted yet either, and she had more time than she could ever have hoped for, volunteering at the hospital.

Never had she dreamed she wouldn't be bustling about from patient to patient: instead, it was just going back and forth between Sasuke and the cafeteria and several times Ino, who had Hinata running errands from time to time.

Hinata's smile was growing wider and wider without her knowing, but the boy surely noticed.

"What's that smile for?" he grinned.

She snapped her head up, to see that his arms were folded across his shirt. He had his head slightly turned away and was staring intently at her from his peripheral vision. Blushing, she quickly pulled her smile into a frown and shook her head nervously.

"N-Nothing, sorry, mister." She bit her lip, hesitating as she reached for the mayonnaise. "Uh, would you like m-mayonnaise or ranch?"

"Either or?" the boy inquired.

"No … but what else would you have on an egg salad sandwich?"

He chuckled. "Mustard."

She made a face, but complied with his wishes. _What a choice of condiments, _she thought.

"Thanks." He paid for the sandwich and paused in his steps. Without looking back at her, he said, "I didn't want you to stop smiling, you know. And don't call me mister; I'll bet you we're the same age."

"O-Oh?"

"I'm nineteen."

"I-I'm … nineteen," Hinata said, with a slight sigh of surrender. Hinata wiped her hands on her apron and swept the bread crumbs into the trash can, all the while rolling her eyes.

The boy, although he couldn't see her face, almost seemed to hear her actions. He laughed out loud, startling her. The laugh was louder than even Naruto's laughs, and deeper than even Sasuke's. He laughed, _really _laughed, as though he were a kid who couldn't control himself in the movie theatre.

But … she liked it that way. It made her feel as light as air, as happy and enthused as she had been when she had still been madly in love with Naruto, as though she were glowing. She wished _her _laugh was loud, and memorable, and contagious. She wished she had a laugh like his.

But if not, she'd settle for hearing his laugh as much as she could. So, she cracked another smile, which burst into giggles soon after. Even as he walked away from her, he continued to laugh.

The elderly lady at the other counter raised her eyebrows at Hinata, who shook her head and cast her eyes down, hiding the blush that was creeping up her neck.

As the hour dragged by, Hinata's gaze kept on returning to the black-haired boy who sat alone in the cafeteria, taking his time with his egg-salad-and-mustard sandwich. He sat with his legs propped up on another chair, slumped in casual comfort, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his hair pushed back off of his forehead.

She couldn't help but wonder who he was. He seemed to be the only one in the entire crowd of visitors who didn't seem to be the least bit worried about whoever he was visiting.

As discreetly as she could, she approached the elderly lady when the customers had stopped hording in.

"Um – obaa-san?"

"Yes, Hinata-chan?" The lady pulled her hairnet off of her head and tossed it into the bin, peeling her gloves off and not seeming to pay Hinata the least of her attention. Hinata glanced at the calendar and realized that they were off their shift.

"O-Oh, um, did you know who –"

"-that boy was, right?" the elderly lady smiled, her eyes twinkling.

"How did you-?"

"We girls have a way of knowing other girls," she winked. "Don't worry darling. I know exactly who he is. That's my grandson."

"W-What!" Hinata said, so surprised she practically tripped over her own feet as she darted to open the door of the storage room for the lady. "Your grandson…"

"Hisao works for the hospital, sweetheart."

"H-Hisao?" Hinata's eyes flickered back to the boy, who was now ruffling hands through his black hair in a futile attempt to tidy it up. "He works here?"

"He's a biomedical engineer. He occasionally spends his time at the hospital, assessing patient situations, researching and analyzing the machinery." Hisao's grandmother spoke with fond pride. "It would be really great if you'd be his friend. There aren't many other people at the hospital who aren't always up and running about, dear. Do me a favour and go talk to him, won't you?"

Hinata looked stricken. She had an inkling of what the lady was trying to do, but that didn't stop her from being taken aback. "Obaa-san!"

Chortling merrily, Hisao's grandmother stroked Hinata's hair distractedly and patted her shoulder. "Keep your tassels on, dearie. I'm only joking. But it would be great." With a final giggle, the old woman shut the storage closet door and shuffled out of the cafeteria. She greeted the woman who had come to take over her shift on the way out.

"Tassels?" Hinata repeated, puzzled. She sighed then, looking over her shoulder one last time. However, Hisao had vanished.

**. . . . .**

Without any cafeteria duty to attend to, and not wishing to return to see Uchiha Sasuke, Hinata decided to visit Lee. She hadn't seen him since she'd come, and she felt slightly bad about that.

With determination, Hinata surfed through the files and navigated herself to Lee's room. She knocked tentatively before she entered, even though the door was wide open.

Lee sat upright in the bed, his posture perfect and his hands in fists in his lap. His round eyes glared at the wall opposite him, and his head was held high. Hinata couldn't help but feel as though the atmosphere in his room was too stiff and unsettlingly rigid, almost as though he were posing for a military portrait.

"L-Lee-san?"

He glanced at her, almost disinterestedly. "Hinata-san. It's good to see you. Did you come to see me?"

"Yes, I'm a hospital volunteer," Hinata explained. "Is something wrong, Lee-san? You seem … down."

_Down _was an understatement. He was absolutely miserable. Lee groaned and buried his head in his hands, somehow still managing to keep his back firmly straight. "You know everything, though, don't you, Hinata-san? You're friends with Tenten-chan and Neji-kun's cousin."

"Lee …" Hinata murmured, taking the seat reserved for visitors. "Lee, don't beat yourself up over it. You'll find someone someday."

"But I don't want anyone else. I have loved Tenten-chan since we were in the spring-"

"-time of your youth, I know," Hinata said, struggling to keep the tiredness out of her voice. "Tenten-chan is too headstrong for her own good," Hinata said apologetically. "And nii-san is impossible. Don't waste your time on them, Lee-san."

Hinata had never had to resort to pointing out the flaws of her friends and family to reassure someone, but she knew that when someone as enthusiastic and optimistic as Rock Lee was in depression, he would need much more than average-degree comfort. He needed all the help he could get, at this phase.

"Really," Hinata urged honestly. "Please, Lee-san. You shouldn't have gotten so drunk."

"I was sad," Lee said simply, dropping his hands lamely into his lap again and craning his neck to turn away from her. "Why does this always happen to me?"

"Well … well, Lee-san …" Hinata said carefully, "it's because you're the only one who _lets _it happen to you."

She flinched at the way it came out.

"What?" he snapped, somewhat baffled.

"I-I mean, well … Tenten-chan is the only girl in your team … she's always been in the middle, and she's always had the focal attention without much effort, because she was the only girl … and because she was _good _…"

Hinata felt something sting her heart. She had been the only girl as well … but she had not been very good as a ninja. To be honest, out of herself and Sakura and Ino and Tenten, Tenten was the only one in her genin team who had been closest to equal standards with her teammates. Even against Choji, Ino didn't compare, and definitely not to Shikamaru.

Sakura, paired with the famed Kyuubi vessel and the last of the Uchiha, didn't stand a chance.

Hinata had received average-level shinobi and had still managed to fall behind as the worst.

"So Tenten-chan has always been doing her own thing … she never felt the need to have rivals. And Neji-nii-san … he has always been so concerned with his own life at home, his own goals and p-problems – with the c-clan – so he has never paid much attention to what Tenten does with him …"

"What are – you saying?" Lee choked.

"I – I just meant to say … um, well, Lee-san, you're the only one who really gets impacted by this drama. You should just shut it out; it will work itself out. Don't … don't sweat it too much."

"Thank you, Hinata-san, but I don't think you are one to explain matters of the heart to someone."

"What is _that _supposed to mean?" Hinata demanded, immediately on the defensive.

"I mean, look at you and Naruto. You have shut it out all your life. It never worked itself out, did it, when you didn't 'sweat it too much'? Who are you to tell me what works and what doesn't?"

Hinata felt completely broken. He had a large point. She opened her mouth, closed it again, and clenched her hands into fists at her sides. Her lips parted again, refusing to let him win the argument, but she never got her chance to speak.

The door was roughly knocked out of the way of a trolley, which preceded a familiar face with black hair and a friendly face.

"H-Hisao-kun!" Hinata exclaimed without thinking.

He didn't seem surprised that she knew his name. Instead, he winked at her and grinned at Lee. "Who's this?"

"My cousin's teammate, Rock Lee. Hisao, Lee. Lee, Hisao." Hinata's eyes never left Hisao as he rolled up his sleeves and crouched down at the ground beside Lee's bed.

"Great, great. You've been using this for three days, am I right?" He indicated the machine at Lee's bedside.

Lee nodded, somewhat surprised.

"Cool, cool." Hisao distractedly tapped a fist on the machine. "It's been fine, has it?"

"It makes loud noises at night," Lee said simply. "If you could just –"

"Not a problem," Hisao assured him immediately. "I'm on it. And oh, I had a proposal for you." He turned to face Hinata.

"Y-Yes?"

"I was wondering if you could lend me your room. I need to store some of my research equipment in an empty room, and there's none because of the war patients … but you're a volunteer, aren't you? You're stay-"

"It's completely fine," Hinata assured him with a kind smile.

He held her gaze for a moment longer before chuckling. "Thanks." With a nod to both of them, Hisao backed out of the room with his trolley, his footfalls echoing down the corridor as he retreated.

Hinata turned swiftly back to Lee with a happy look on her face, which he mistook for smugness.

"Apologies, Hinata-san," Lee said quickly, raising both hands above his head in defeat. "I suppose I was wrong about you … and love."

Hinata's smile widened and she stood to approach the door. Before she exited, however, she paused in the doorway and said, "Hey, Lee?"

"Yeah?"

"You'll find someone else. People like us … people who've waited their whole lives to fall in love again … I know we'll get it."

**. . . . .**

Hinata returned to Sasuke's room, turning the knob with a smile on her face. She hadn't quite gotten over the fact that Hisao had spoken to her, even if it was just to request her room space. She didn't mind – she hoped it would mean that he would be dropping in and out from time to time.

The bleak prospect of seeing Sasuke couldn't even dampen her mood as she stepped inside. She saw Sasuke's motionless form leaning against the wall, directly beneath the window, not far away from where they had had their argument.

Her smile faded slightly, but it didn't disappear. If anything, it tightened, firm and somewhat fond.

Oh, how he reminded her of herself. So adamant, so immature and so determined to prove her points. So, so intent on not giving up, because both Sasuke and herself had learned from the best, from the master of 'not giving up' – Uzumaki Naruto.

Her small smile still planted firmly on her tired face, Hinata concentrated her chakra to her arms to reinforce her strength, trying to build on all the happy thoughts she had acquired as of today to help keep her steady and driven.

She managed to worm her arms under his back and legs and although she stumbled and staggered with him in her arms, she managed to practically throw him onto the bed. She wasn't sure if he was completely unconscious from trying to move, or just asleep from weariness.

All she knew was that she was about to collapse from having experienced an unhealthy combination of both for one day. She slid to the ground beside his bed, not bothering to even pull over a chair. Folding her arms atop his sheets, she nestled her head in the cradle between her elbows and forearms so that she faced him.

She barely blinked once, staring at his unawake face, before she plummeted into absolute sleep.

**. . . . . **

Sasuke felt as though he were crawling his way through the war. He was on the battleground, on his hands and knees. The explosions, the blasts, the screams and the smoky air were all not helping. They were rocking him, from side to side in his army-crawl, and he was moving, staggering, stumbling, and tripping, here and there.

He didn't understand. Why was he so wobbly?

"Naruto!" he shouted, as loudly as he could. "Itachi!"

As he spoke, out of the fog came two figures. Both of the men he'd called had appeared.

"Little brother…" Itachi murmured, poking his forehead with two fingers lightly. His voice was distant and almost … dare he say, affectionate?

Naruto, on the other hand, was screaming and beckoning for Sasuke. "Sasuke! Bastard, we're in the middle of a war! Get yourself together!"

"I'm trying!" Sasuke bellowed back.

"Try harder! Don't you see it? Open your eyes, Sasuke! This is _war_! Wake the hell up!"

And with that, Sasuke's mind snapped awake. His eyes, however, wouldn't open.

_Weird … _He lay there silently for a moment, unmoving. Slowly, he attempted to lift a finger. A burst of pain shot up his entire arm, but he bit back a wince and lifted another finger. Eventually, he could lift his whole hand, but not his forearm.

Recollections came rushing back to Sasuke of his injuries. Groaning, he rolled his head to the side and took a deep breath. To his surprise, all that he could smell was the cool scent of cucumber and coconut, a fresh scent of shampoo and faint perfume.

At the tingling sensation that coursed through his nose, Sasuke's eyes shot open. He was met with the sleeping head of Hyuuga Hinata.

Sasuke coughed, but she didn't wake up. She was so fiercely focussed on success, just like himself, just like Naruto. And yet she was nice, and childish and enthusiastically foolish.

How very alike they were. How very different.

**. . . . .**

**A/N: **I have a proposition for you. Since I'm busy with a tedious schedule nowadays, I have two options I can present to you.  
Option 1 - Update quicker, but with shorter chapters (about the length of this one.)  
Option 2 - Update at later, irregular intervals, with longer chapters (about the length of the two previous chapters.)

**Drop a review!  
:-)**


	4. Talk

**Hi, again! I hope I'm not forgotten around these parts. **

**This is going to be a bit of a filler chapter to get the plot back on track to where I want it to go.**

**My writing style is a bit different now. I'm trying my hardest to revert back to how it was before to avoid any confusion or dissatisfaction on your part. Thank you, readers, for supporting this story!**

**One last thing – I've noticed that a few people around the web have been recommending this story on forum boards and web-pages. That's beautiful! Thank you so much for that, guys! If I knew who you were, I'd send you a personal message, but for now, just accept this universally-directed virtual ((hug))! (: Please continue to support and read this story. **

_If you haven't already and if you have some time, please listen to the song "This Woman's Work". It's a very beautiful and moving song. _

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

**. . . . .**

_Talk_

There was a note at Hinata's door.

"Hyuuga Hinata, Room 402."

The messenger handed it over with a blank face, and turned on his heel and left the second Hinata wrapped her fingers around the small slip of paper. When she looked at it, she understood. Half of the message was blacked out entirely, censored. And when she glanced at the sender's name, she knew why.

The Hokage wouldn't let her fighting shinobi send classified information back and forth during a state of war. Hinata recognized Sakura's print and Naruto's unruly scrawl. Sakura said that she hoped Hinata was alright, and that the battle was fine on their end.

Naruto said that they were going to give their all to this war, and win, because committing to anything with only half a heart simply never worked. There were countless other lines following this promise, most likely describing the situation on the frontlines and – knowing Naruto – the dreadful lack of delicious food and pretty girls.

And although Hinata never got to know their whereabouts, conditions, injuries or future plans, she felt completely fine with that. She was smiling as she set the letter down on the tabletop and turned her attention to the tray of food that she'd brought up herself from the cafeteria. Her dinner was measly, just steamed vegetables and mushroom spaghetti.

She wondered what Naruto was being made to eat on the battlefield, and forked some spaghetti into her mouth. It tasted a bit flavourless.

She blinked, and then eased herself away from thoughts of Naruto, to where they ended with Sasuke, and how she'd purposefully avoided seeing him today, selfishly ignored her nurse's duty in doing so, too afraid and frankly, tired, of his cutting presence and scathing distaste for everything.

And lost her appetite.

Hinata set down the fork, and threw the rest of the food away.

**. . . . .**

Hinata was called into Tsunade's office early the next morning.

"Shizune tells me Sasuke's condition is worse today," Tsunade informed Hinata, Her eyes were stone-cold and unfeeling. "I haven't received any reports from you personally, Hinata. Tell me how it is."

Hinata felt very much like she was being interrogated, or even blamed. "I-I apologize, Tsunade-sama, I've been trying – I mean, I'll try harder – no, no, I'll work on him – wait, I mean I'll work on m-myself—"

"I'm not accusing you," Tsunade said firmly, "and I'm not asking you to take any responsibility whatsoever for his condition. You are, after all, not his doctor, just his caretaker."

Hinata thought herself quite a lousy caretaker, if that were the case.

She didn't have too much time to dwell on this. The door sounded three knocks, and in entered Neji. Long hair the colour of coffee the way her mother had always taken it brought a wave of nostalgia over Hinata. Not only had it been a while since she'd been reminded of her mother, but it'd been quite a long time since she'd encountered her cousin.

"Neji-nii-san," she said, smiling politely, and he directed a cordial bow her way.

"Hinata-sama." He turned his pale, hard eyes on the Hokage and said disinterestedly, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Indeed," Tsunade said, hid her drowsy yawn behind a lifted sheet of paper. "Make an appointment next time, Neji. I'm in the middle of discussing a predicament with your cousin."

"Predicament? Is Hinata-sama in trouble?" Neji turned to Hinata, as though she would be the one to give him his answers.

"Not at all." Tsunade tossed the sheet back onto the desk and glared at the black ink. "Uchiha Sasuke's medical file. It looks uglier than the records of all the Third Shinobi World War combined. Where he received such injuries I'll never know…"

"Has questioning failed?"

Tsunade wrinkled her nose in distaste. "He won't surrender to any threats whatsoever, and we also know that we can't go that far – committing violence against him. He's already half-dead, and has no chance of defending himself. It'd almost be like a mercy killing, and it'd give us no information."

Hinata gave a start from the corner of Tsunade's desk, where she'd been stiffly perched, feeling like an outsider rudely eavesdropping on strangers' conversation. "Information?"

"He came from _nowhere_," Tsunade told the both of them, in a conspiratorial whisper. Somehow, she seemed a bit inebriated, but Tsunade was always somewhat halfway-there anyway – side-effects from excessive sake binging, likely. "We found him in an area where it was confirmed he'd been staying for little over six hours. They couldn't retrace his steps leading from any other place. He might as well have dropped out of the sky and landed in that spot, unable to move."

"No kinetic chakra," Neji muttered. "Just how does that happen, Tsunade-sama?"

"Until now, it'd been thought impossible. Chakra is supposed to regenerate on its own, over time. We're still in the middle of investigating it – both his sudden appearance and his condition – but this is untraceable. It's nonexistent. It can't be found in pathology, or bacteriology, or oncology, or radiology – we just have no idea."

"The examinations a-aren't working?" Hinata inquired. Tsunade seemed much more alert now, fully concerned and wide awake. Hinata concluded that the woman must have lost great amounts of sleep and sanity stressing over this curious case.

"If we can just get his condition to improve, even a bit," Tsunade said earnestly. "Just a bit. If his chakra borders on the brink of natural regeneration, we might be able to help him more easily. The medical file here –" Tsunade indicated the sheet of paper on her desk, "—reads that Sasuke has about thirteen months to live. At around the eight-month mark, his chakra circulatory system will shut down. It'll stop working, and it'll stop trying."

_Thirteen months?_

There was a pause while Tsunade closed her eyes, leaned her head back as far as it would go, and sighed to the ceiling.

"Hinata, I need you to try harder. Please."

Hinata opened her mouth, to consent, but Neji interrupted, "Why does Hinata-sama have to help him? He's a traitor to Konoha. All he has is information, and it might not even have anything to do with us. For all we know, he was just some reckless kid who didn't care about anything but himself and his family."

"That may be true," Tsunade said, and she rolled her neck, wincing at the stretch of the sore joints, without opening her eyes. "But I have reason to believe he may be willing to regain citizenship after or during his recovery."

"Reason," Neji scoffed, "and that means Naruto, doesn't it? Are you really going to take the word of a—"

"—shinobi who is probably far more wholeheartedly qualified to be Hokage than I am?" Tsunade finished, and she swivelled her head around to face Neji, eyelids snapping apart to meet his daring stare. "Yes, I am. Completely."

_Thirteen months…_

Hinata thought it about time she said something. "Tsunade-sama, I think you should know that Sasuke-san d-doesn't really—"

"—want help? It's fine. Even I can tell he doesn't want to die. Just put a bit more effort into it, Hinata, and he'll listen to you. Talk a bit more. You have full authority, granted as of this moment by me, over him. He has to follow your orders. If he doesn't, report back to me and I'll deal with it accordingly."

Hinata didn't feel at all relieved.

_Thirteen months._

**. . . . .**

Sasuke's hair was wet when she entered the room.

Hinata knew that in the time she wasn't by Sasuke's bedside, attending to him, there was another medic, a male doctor with a specialty in Bloodline Limits, who examined Sasuke, conducted tests, and also helped him to and from the bathroom. There was the faint scent of shampoo, and his skin was bright from the afterglow of a shower.

She licked her lips and tightened her throat, something she did instinctively when she wanted to speak without a stutter. When she did this, Hinata had to speak a bit slower, more carefully, but where Sasuke was concerned, annoyances of any degree that could spur a potential outburst had to be avoided.

"Good evening, Sasuke-san," she said, a little more quietly than she would've liked. And so she chalked his lack of a reply to his not having heard her, when she really knew that he just hadn't cared to answer. "H-How are you feeling?"

Sasuke turned blank eyes up at her. "Fine."

There was a small white patch on his arm. Hinata concluded that he'd just given blood. She swallowed and blinked, focusing instead on his frown. "Have you been having a good day?"

He spoke in words just as disconnected and slow as she did; her reason was her stutter, and his was a four-track mind. "I just said I'm fine."

She wanted to point out that there was a difference between the two questions, but thought better of it, and instead started to clean his dishes from the dinner he'd just finished. The male medic-nin who had been here to feed it to Sasuke had left without clearing them away.

"Naruto-kun and Sakura-chan sent me a note t-today," she said slowly, wary.

Sasuke leaned his head back a bit, watching the air in front of him with what seemed to be intense interest. "Good for you. I certainly don't get any notes from them."

She had no idea how to respond.

Hinata watched Sasuke's body language from the corner of her eye. His elbows were tucked in, his posture perfect, straight as a nail, and he didn't seem to require any form of entertainment or indulgence like other patients, such as crossword puzzles, television, or visitors. He emitted such a dreadfully blank aura that even Hinata, his assigned nurse, was cautious of interacting with him.

_Thirteen. _

She pursed her lips and drew in a breath. She would try.

"Sasuke-san, I noticed you d-didn't have any of the soup."

He didn't respond. But it wasn't like she'd expected him to, or anything.

"You really should try it, it's very good. I think today was cream of broccoli, a-and it's healthy, too. Um … you d-didn't touch the roasted chicken either … you know, just having the rice and tea won't be enough calories for you, e-especially since you ate the celery and apples and those are actually _negative _calories."

"I'm full, though." Sasuke didn't look at her. He just stared at the wall, with narrowed eyes, hard in thought.

Hinata decided to end her preaching and took a different approach. "Have you tried walking?"

He shook his head soundlessly.

"You might want to. Tsunade-sama said if you can just get your chakra up to the point where it's on the verge of self-regeneration, they might be able to help it along e-easier. Anytime you want to start, you can just ask and I'll be your support."

"Shut up already," Sasuke scoffed, and his voice had something of a snicker in it, that made a spark of anger ignite in Hinata's gut. "Just shut up. You don't want to help. Why are you saying all of this?"

"Because I'm trying to help," Hinata said simply, forcing the sound of agitation out of her tone. "It'd be b-better if you would just let me _help _you—"

"But the thing is, Nurse, you don't want to help."

Hinata couldn't tell if he was mocking her, teasing her or seriously fighting her. After a second's debate, she omitted the second option and found that she couldn't differentiate between the ones that remained. Perhaps it was both.

"You're here because you're useless otherwise," Sasuke said, smacked his lips like an arrogant schoolboy, and leaned back onto the mountain of pillows.

"Excuse me?"

"You're injured, aren't you? You can't walk properly. There's a limp, it's barely noticeable. Your left arm doesn't swing when you walk, and the shoulder on that arm is pushed back always just a bit farther than the right, like it's been dislocated before. Also, you take deep, shuddering breaths whenever you've just been rushing here, so your cardio is bad, or your heart is weak, or both."

Hinata looked at her feet. She was overwhelmed, and at first, she passed it off as sadness, once again being looked down upon and condemned by those above her, but she could only be astounded at his vast perception. What observation indeed, to have caught such minor details that not even Naruto had been able to pick out the day she returned from her catastrophic S-class mission.

Then again, he was a bit of a dense little dunce, and dense little dunces didn't change very easily or often.

"Don't cry now," Sasuke said, and his tone wasn't snappish in the least, but it wasn't pleading, either. It was absolutely devoid of anything, so utterly hollow that Hinata half-wished he'd get angry just for the sake of _feeling _angry. "A girl like you, losing her ability to be a kunoichi … I'd have expected you to commit suicide by now."

"C-Commit suicide?" Hinata repeated in disbelief. "I-I never mentioned anything about losing my ability. Out of the two of us, aren't I more likely to return to the field? I still have my chakra, and I'm recuperating."

"Then shouldn't you be in a bed, just like me, and not running around as a nurse?" Sasuke was skeptical, and merciless. And so very, very cunning. Hinata hated not being able to find answers for his questions.

"We're in a w-war, and I'm doing my best to help out, since I can't do anything else, and Tsunade-sama said that the hospital was in need of some volunteers, a-and that I had good chakra control, so I would be—"

"Shut up. You talk too much." Sasuke lowered his glare to his knees. He knocked one of them with his fist, and didn't flinch, wince, or twitch in the least. He might even have lost all sensation. "Can't you tell, when I've been like this, that I didn't want you to keep talking?"

Hinata bit her lip, uncertain how to respond without being rudely shushed once again.

"You're not observant at all. You're not fit to be a ninja. Did your woman sensei not teach you the basic rule? _Underneath the underneath _– if you'd been looking there in the first place, you'd have known that I didn't want to listen to you ever since you brought up the stupid issue about the soup."

"I'll r-remember that next time."

And then Hinata fell entirely silent, ankles together and clutching her wrist in anxiousness. She wanted to apologize. She wanted to apologize to Sasuke, for being oblivious to his signals, and to Tsunade, for having tried the wrong way and receiving wrong results, and to herself, mostly, for even doing something she hadn't really wanted to do.

Naruto, after all, had said that trying to commit to something half-heartedly just never worked.

Hinata left the room.

Now she knew.

**. . . . . **

Hinata had taken the remainder of the night off. Sasuke evidently didn't appreciate her presence, and the dinner rush in the cafeteria was over. She'd have nothing to do if she stayed at the hospital.

She might have visited Lee, if he hadn't been so morose in mourning the loss of Tenten, but the poor fellow just didn't know how to quit, even when he was well aware of the pain that lay ahead.

Hinata wondered what it felt like, self-destruction.

"Nee-san?"

Hanabi stood in front of the Hyuuga gates, eyes wide and delighted and defrosting. Hinata could infer, from the clenched fists at her little sister's sides and the stiff way she held her shoulders that she'd just gotten into another dispute with their unreasonable father.

"Hi," Hinata breathed, watching her words spiral in wisps of cold air in front of her eyes. "W-Why are you out here, H-Hanabi-chan? Let's go inside, it's so c-cold that I'm s-stuttering more than usual…"

"I'm never going back there," Hanabi snapped, and stomped both her feet into the snow as if to implant them into the ground there. "Not to that old man."

Hinata closed her bare fingers around the icy gate poles. "Let me in, Hanabi. I'll talk to him."

Hanabi scoffed. "It's not like you can actually do anything. He hates you. And me, now, for that matter."

"Ever since that—?"

"—Don't say it," Hanabi warned.

Hinata stopped herself and slid her hands off the hard iron. "Alright," she murmured quietly, and took a step back. "Should I not have c-come?"

Hanabi swallowed visibly, and her teeth teased her lip. She stood, uncertain, and not meeting her sister's eyes. "I don't know," was all she had to say.

Hinata's lips trembled, whether from the urge to scream in frustration or from the bitter, icy cold. "R-Right, tell the c-clan I dropped by?"

The younger Hyuuga girl narrowed her eyes off to the side, inspecting one of her own brown hairs that was blowing flimsily at the side of her face. "Didn't you hear me? I said I wasn't going back."

"Where will you s-stay?" Hinata asked immediately, not unkindly, because she knew Hanabi was a stubborn one and that no amount of pressuring would change her mind. "I can't shelter you, Hanabi – you know I don't live on my own—"

"Right," Hanabi said, voice empty, "you live at the hospital."

It sounded far worse than it had in Hinata's mind. It reminded her vaguely of _that incident_, a while back, when Hinata had been in the hospital for a grand total of four months, all spent in the ICU, after her S-class mission.

"It's different now," Hinata promised. "I like it there. At least I'm doing what I can to h-help with the w-war."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hanabi said indignantly, too loud for Hinata's liking. "Are you saying I'm useless?"

_Are you saying I'm useless?_

_Useless?_

_**Useless?**_

It was the question that had been in her head only moments earlier, now spoken aloud, and something inside of Hinata contracted when she heard it. Hanabi's voice, so very like her own, repeating the phrase she'd wanted to snap to Uchiha Sasuke.

Hanabi had always been the pile of things that Hinata was not.

In life, those were their roles. Hinata was the beginning, the things that were, the things that started out the way they had and never changed. Hanabi was the shift, the reversal, the things that weren't, everything that was missing, and everything that had been asked for.

"I'm not saying you're useless," Hinata whispered, in a breath so low, but one Hanabi couldn't possibly miss. "I'm saying I am."

**. . . . .**

Hinata capped the last of the yoghurt parfaits and placed it on the countertop. "Finished," she declared in a soft voice, and the breakfast lady glanced over her shoulder, eyes sweeping over the array of plastic cups.

She smiled approvingly. "Good work, Hinata. Thanks. I made some oatmeal for the patients' breakfast this morning. It's maple and brown sugar. Feel free to have some, and remember to take some up for Uchiha-kun."

Hinata nodded. "T-Thank you."

Yesterday had been Hinata's breaking point. She had expected to snap, out of anger or impatience or even in her own earnestness, but she had only collapsed, folded in on herself, accomplishing nothing and losing her willpower. Her feet dragged themselves up to Sasuke's room, the tray in seemingly dead hands, and her entire face was too drained to exert the muscle force and smile.

Or even to frown. She just looked, ahead, and looked alive.

But just barely, only barely.

Hinata knocked on Sasuke's door and, without waiting for an answer, she turned the knob and swung it open. He was sitting upright in his bed, as usual, and didn't acknowledge her entrance or the bowl of oatmeal in her hands. He didn't seem hungry, either, or pleased to be breathing.

In a lot of ways, he was her reflection.

Hinata set down the tray on the bedside and table and waited for Sasuke to speak.

_Anything_, she pleaded, _anything at all. Just thank me. No, you don't even have to do that. Just pick up the spoon and eat. Or tell me to leave. _

Sasuke stared at it, without speaking, an unconscious act of defiance against her very thoughts.

"S-Sasuke-san, it's for you," Hinata said in a low voice, as kindly as she could muster, and she could feel the exertion of that false attempt at sincerity wearing away at her. Hinata felt her cheeks drain themselves of colour before she saw it in his eyes.

He didn't seem concerned for her. He just looked at her, with a knowing sort of look, looking like, _This is how I feel all the time. It's great, don't you think?_

And she wanted to clamp her eyes shut, right in front of those dark-dark-onyx-rocks of eyes, so sharp and unwelcoming and then to turn away, and leave the room. Instead, she dropped her hands behind her back and shifted her gaze to the bowl.

"It's oatmeal," she tried again. "P-Please have some. The c-cook made it for you."

_The cook_. Sasuke's mouth twitches.

He nods with a blink, an indication for her to spoon-feed the oatmeal to him. He probably doesn't feel up to using the energy today, she concludes, because normally he would be able to manage half the bowl before his arm fell and he would need to be assisted like an infant.

After a minute that the cold metal spoon is inside his mouth, Sasuke retches visibly, his stomach convulsing and his hand whipping to his ribs to claw at it. Hinata removed the spoon quickly, and saw that the oatmeal, soggier than before and practically regurgitated, and wanted to retch as well.

"What is that?" Sasuke demanded, a little hoarse, but nonetheless irritated

"Maple and b-brown sugar. Oatmeal." _You didn't have to spit it back. Maybe then I'd have eaten it, and it wouldn't have to go to waste, like it will now._

"I hate it," Sasuke told her bluntly. "I hate brown sugar."

Hinata opened her mouth, closed it again, and then placed the bowl back onto the tray with a diligent nod. "I'll inform the c-cook."

Sasuke breathed, a sigh of sorts, but Hinata couldn't read the emotion behind it. He leaned back onto his pillows and tilted his head up to stare at the ceiling. "I'm also feeling nauseated today," he said simply. There was no pain in his voice, or disgust, or even discomfort. She wondered if he was lying, because he also didn't make a habit out of telling her how he felt when she asked.

And she hadn't even asked this time around.

But she played along, "I'll tell Tsunade-sama the n-next time I see her."

And Sasuke breathed again, a scoff this time, but he only clasped his hands together on his stomach and closed his eyes.

Hinata intended to let him sleep, and began stealing out of the room as quietly as she could, but was distracted by the vibrant sight of bright yellow blossoms. "Flowers?" she muttered aloud, before she could catch herself.

"I had a visitor last night, when you were gone," Sasuke said, without opening his eyes.

Hinata, curious and unwilling to provoke him further, bent over to read the card wedged between two fat marigold heads. "K-Kakashi-sensei?" _Does that mean—_

"Naruto didn't come back," Sasuke said immediately. "Kakashi brought back some secret files the team secured for Tsunade. Dropped in for an hour or so."

Hinata's eyes widened as she read the card. _**Get well. –Kakashi (P.S. there's a note on the back of this card. Show this at the wedding.)**_

Wedding?

"S-Sasuke-san, which w-wedding is he talking about?"

"Tch," Sasuke grunted, and glared at the bouquet of flowers. "His. And your sensei's. You're invited too, no doubt. The bastard couldn't get me a proper invite, so I just get a bill to show the bouncer."

Hinata was completely taken aback. She hadn't been suspecting that Kurenai-sensei would actually marry Kakashi, but it didn't come as too much of a surprise, either. Kakashi had been lending a hand with Asuma's baby ten times more than Hinata, Kiba or Shino had been able to, and Shikamaru had been preoccupied with his own genin team as of late. Hinata was more surprised that –

"Tsunade-sama is letting you g-go?"

"I'll get a wheelchair."

There followed an abrupt pause. Sasuke closed his eyes, clearly already tired of the conversation. After his previous outburst, Hinata had tried not to bore him with pointless coffee-talk or nurse's preaching anymore, but she didn't drop the matter.

"You don't have the kinetic energy to wheel yourself a-around," Hinata said, feeling like an absolute insensitive bully for pointing it out.

"Uh, no, Nurse, you'll be doing that."

**. . . . .**

TBC

**(I hope that ending didn't seem too much of a cliff-hanger. It's not meant to be. I just had nowhere else to end this chapter. So don't let your expectations get too high for the next update, which will hopefully be more timely than this one was. Enjoy the holidays, everyone!) **


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